Container skirt

ABSTRACT

In a container for holding frozen food products, such as ice cream or the like, a skirt means is provided for snug seating upon the top of its respective container, and firmly held in place through the intermediary of an elastomeric ring like member, while the downward portion of each skirt is multi-sided, preferably of square design, so that like skirts of adjacent containers can be contiguously positioned together in proximity to provide a platform like surface to prevent any food droppings from falling below the composite skirts and containers. A cabinet incorporating a series of brackets upon its interior walls is designed to provide for snug positioning of said skirts and containers together, and through a transparent sliding lid provided on the cabinet, the food laden containers, in addition to the collection of adjacent skirts and the surface they form may be conveniently viewed.

United States Patent [1 1 Allgeyer CONTAINER SKIRT [75] Inventor: David F. Allgeyer, Conway, Ark. [73] Assignee: UMC Industries, Inc., New York,

[22] Filed: June 14, 1972 [21] Appl. No.: 262,699

[52] US. Cl 220/85 R, 220/17, 220/85 l-l, 220/D1G. 5, ZZO/DIG. 8 [51] Int. Cl B65d 25/00 [58] Field of Search 220/17, 85 R, 85 K, 85 11, 220/90, 73, 42 A, DIG. 5, DIG. 8, 17; 215/12 R, 13 R', 285/110, 345, 231; 211/71, 74

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 134,302 12/1872 Miller 220 010. 5 1,100,536 6/1914 Clarke 220/D1G. 21 1,952,401 3/1934 Wilson 220/85 K 2,083,503 6/1937 Nelson 220/42 A 2,130,651 9/1938 Phillips 220/42 A 2,370,034 2/1945 Haugland 220/14 2,561,884 7/1951 Perrow 285/231 2,766,891 10/1956 Elzer 220/97 B 2,957,601 10/1960 Novick 220/97 B 3,130,852 4/1964 Cook 220/17 51 Sept. 17, 1974 3,172,346 3/1965 Siskind et al. 220/23.83 3,693,829 9/1972 Price 220/85 R 3,721,366 3/1973 Battershall et a1 220/73 Primary Examiner-William 1. Price Assistant Examiner-Allan N. Shoap [57] ABSTRACT In a container for holding frozen food products, such as ice cream or the like, a skirt means is provided for snug seating upon the top of its respective container, and firmly held in place through the intermediary of an elastomeric ring like member, while the downward portion of each skirt is multi-sided, preferably of square design, so that like skirts of adjacent containers can be contiguously positioned together in proximity to provide a platform like surface to prevent any food droppings from falling below the composite skirts and containers. A cabinet incorporating a series of brackets upon its interior walls is designed to provide for snug positioning of said skirts and containers together, and through a transparent sliding lid provided on the cabinet, the food laden containers, in addition to the collection of adjacent skirts and the surface they form may be conveniently viewed.

12 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures minnow: 1 4

SHEET 1 0F 3 FIG.

Pmimzn w m SHEET 2 0F 3 FIG.2.

'FIG. 4.

FIG.3.

PAIENIEB SEP 1 mm SHEET 3 BF 3 FIG.5.

FIG.7.

PIC-3.6.

1 CONTAINER SKIRT BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION This invention relates generally to a container assembly, and more particularly is concerned with the provision of a skirt member that may mount directly upon the standard frozen food container providing it with enhanced strength, cleaner usage and a pleasing appearance.

Various types of prior art ice cream container racks, or the like, are available and they are designed primarily for their mechanical attributes in holding a cluster of such containers together. While such previous devices have utility, they are of rather complicated structure, expensive to manufacture, and are very difficult to keep clean as a result of their mechanical features. Furthermore, most of these devices incorporate rather sharp and exposed edges that were somewhat hazardous to the proprietor dispensing the frozen product, and in addition, it has been found through experience that when the containers of ice cream are dipped down to a level below their clamping edges, the cardboard cans have a tendency to collapse fairly easily, rendering further dispensing quite difficult.

Other prior art rims for containers were designed to provide some shielding to prevent spillage of the ice cream or other product down into the lower portion of the cabinet, and while some of them were partially effective in achieving this result, they provided little stability for securement of the container to the rim so as to prevent the annoying turning of the former as when ice cream is being dipped, or to prevent a collapse of the container.

It is, therefore, a principal object of this invention to provide a container skirt that may be snugly secured to the top of an ice cream can or container, which is usually constructed round, and keep said container from turning as ice cream is being dipped, usually through the exertion of some force, from the same.

It is another object of this invention to provide a can skirt that both snugly adheres and retains the container in place, but likewise, is formed having rectilinear sides that may compactly abut against adjacent containers to thereby form a surface that prevents scoops of ice cream or drippings from falling down into the lower well of the cabinet in which they are located.

It is another object of this invention to provide a refrigerated cabinet incorporating bracket means that snugly position a multitude of these container skirts and ice cream cans into a composite formation furnishing a rather pleasing appearance.

Another object of this invention is the provision of a neat, clean, and attractive cabinet assembly for the display of a variety of flavors of ice cream.

These and other objects will become more apparent to those skilled in the art in light of the following sum mary, description of the preferred embodiment, and in view of the drawings.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION This invention may be summarized as comprising a skirt that may be snugly attached around the upper portion of a container, such as the common bulk packaged ice cream container, and the attachment of the skirt at this location is achieved through the use of a compression ring constructed of preferably an elastomer, a flexible plastic or polymer. Then, since the lower sides of the skirt are rectilinear in shape, having near vertically oriented surfaces, one container supported skirt may be brought into close and contiguous proximity with adjacent container supported skirts so as to provide a rather attractive composite of these devices as when located within the well of an ice cream dipping cabinet. The intermediate area between that portion of the skirt that attaches to the upper edge of the container, and the aforesaid rectilinear side surfaces, is formed integrally into a group of rather horizontally disposed surfaces, so that when a series of these skirts are brought into close proximity, as aforesaid, they furnish a series of segmentally formed planar like surfaces surrounding each opening into the ice cream container, so that when the product is dipped from its container, and should there by any accidental spillage or dripping, such will either fall back into the container or upon these planar surfaces formed between each container. Hence, this precludes any of the dipped product from falling down into the bottom of the cabinet well, which otherwise would give rise to sanitation problems, and be difficult to clean.

A third feature of this invention is concerned with the cabinet itself into which the container and skirts are located, and this cabinet is formed having the usual walls, but further includes various forms of brackets that provide for positioning into close proximity of all of the containers supported skirts, as previously described. These brackets may line the interior of the front and back walls of the cabinet, or even its side walls, and where the cabinet is designed to accommodate a large capacity, as for example where it may hold up to thirty or more of the containers, then other positioning spacers may span the distance between these wall brackets, so as to provide for proper positioning and a snug arrangement of a series of the containers, as for example eight of them, into contiguity, regardless of whether or not there are other containers filling up the other half or portions of the cabinet. In addition, the cabinet is designed having a slide or roll type form of lid, desirably transparent, so that both the customer and the proprietor may quickly view the product being displayed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings, FIG. 1 provides a perspective view of the cabinet of this invention having a series of containers and supported skirts positioned therein;

FIG. 2 provides a sectional view of the upper portion of a container and its skirt taken along the line 22 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 provides a fragmentary sectional view of a portion of a container skirt taken along the line 3-3 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 provides a fragmentary perspective and cross sectional view of the elastomeric gasket or band that retains the skirt to the upper edge of the container;

FIG. 5 discloses a partial exploded view of the brackets in the cabinet that position the skirt supported containers into proximity;

FIG. 6 provides a cross sectional view of a center spacer taken along the line 6-6 of FIG. 5; and

FIG. 7 provides a cross sectional view of a wall bracket taken along the line 77 of FIG. 5.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawings, in FIG. 1, there is disclosed a cabinet 1 which is of the type that is refrigerated and useful for displaying and maintaining a frozen food product in the nature of bulk packaged ice cream, or the like, that are supported by containers, as at 2. This cabinet is of the deep well type, and the lower portion of its well 3 may contain a series of containers 20 as for storage, while resting upon the top of said containers are the additional containers 2 which may conveniently display the product being merchandized for sale. To facilitate the use of this cabinet and the display of its merchandise therein, the lid 4 of this cabinet may be constructed as of the slide or roll top type, and be transparent so that the product, such as ice cream, may be conveniently viewed therethrough.

It can be seen from this FIG. 1 that each container 2, particularly those maintained on the upper display level, has a skirt 5 mounted thereupon surrounding its opening, and these skirts are molded into their particular configuration for a variety of purposes, such as previously summarized, and may be structurally described as follows. From viewing FIGS. 2 and 3, it can be seen that each container skirt has an upward portion 6, which is slightly vertical in orientation, and which has a diameter, as in this particular instance since it is shown as being cylindrical in formation, which is slightly greater than the diameter of the cylindrical container 2 disposed therein. The upper edge of this portion of the skirt is rounded into a lip, as at 7, which is turned inwardly and slightly downwardly, so as to conveniently embrace the rolled or rimmed upper edge 8 of the container 2.

One desirable feature of this invention, as previously described, is to provide a can skirt that will snugly adhere to the container on which it mounts, so that as ice cream or other frozen or bulk product is being dipped or scraped from within the container, the container will resist turning, mainly through the agency of the firm positioning and mounting of its skirt thereon. This is achieved through the use of an elastomeric or polymer retaining means, such as the rubber gasket or band 9, which is shown being compressed intermediate the upper edge 8 of the container, and the interior surface of the upward edge portion 6 of the skirt. This gasket or retaining means 9 is more aptly disclosed in cross section in FIG. 4, and is shown having a first portion 10 of some vertical length, and integrally formed upon its upward edge is the second portion 11 which provides a form of shoulder that may rest upon the lip 8 of the container 2. Preferably this band is formed having a diameter which is approximately the same or only slightly less than the diameter of the lip 8 of the container, so that the resiliency of the band will allow it to be slightly drawn or stretched as when it is being inserted onto the top portion of said container. Hence, when applied in this manner, the band will be firmly affixed, in the nature of a tightly drawn rubber band, to the top edge of the container 2. Also formed integrally projecting from approximately the mid portion of the length 10 of the band is a projecting portion 12 which extends outwardly of said band, and is useful for compressing tightly against the inner surface of the upper portion of the skirt 6, and thereby firmly frictionally secure the skirt to said container. Hence, through this arrangement, that being thefirm adherence of the skirt to the container by means of this retainer means or band 9, the skirt will be secured to said container, and any force applied to the container as while attempting to dip any product from its interior will not induce its turning.

To further insure the snug positioning of the container-skirt combination in place, it can be noted again from FIGS. 1 and 3 that the bottom portion 13 of each skirt is formed rather rectilinear in shape, in this case disclosed as being four sided and approximately square, with the sides of these skirts being also approximately vertical in orientation, so that each of these skirts may abut each other and remain in contiguity as shown in the composite of the skirts and the containers in FIG. 1. Hence, when you have a series of these skirts and containers being positioned together, it can be seen that the rectilinear formation of the bottom portion of these skirts, all being maintained in adjacency, will be a significant factor in resisting any turning of the skirt, or the container upon which it is supported. It can be also seen from these Figures that the portions of the skirt intermediate its upper and downward parts are formed integrally as a slightly flattened surface, as at 14, which furnishes continuity in the uniform molding of the skirt from its upper portion 6, which in this case is shown as cylindrical in shape, to its downward portion 13, which is shown as rectilinear. Furthermore, when a series of these skirts are brought into adjacency, as shown in FIG. 1, these rather horizontal surfaces 14 inter-mate together segmentally, so as to form a somewhat flattened surface intermediate the upper portions of each skirt, and between containers. Hence, while the merchandiser may be dipping some frozen product from each container, as when inserting his hand through the opening provided in each skirt and the top of each container 2, should any of the dipped product be accidentally dropped, or even drip as from melting, it will either fall back into its respective container, or upon these flattened areas 14. This type of accidental discharge of the product may be easily and rapidly cleaned by simply wiping the exposed surfaces of the skirt. This attribute is quite desirable since prior art type of container racks or rims usually allowed some space between each rim, or even space between each rim and the container upon which it set. But through the use of this invention, and as can be seen in the composite of the skirts assembled together in FIG. 1, there is no clearance between containers and their respective skirts, or between adjacent skirts, so there is little likelihood that any product may fall down into the bottom portion of the cabinet well.

The remaining feature of this invention is disclosed in FIG. 5, wherein the bracket assembly 15 is shown, and has utility for maintaining the positioning of a series of container skirts in close proximity with one another. For the convenience of viewing the various components of this bracket assembly, the cabinet 1 is only faintly shown in schematic outline, and it can be seen that a first bracket means 16 is attached to the frontal wall la of the cabinet, while another bracket means 17 attaches to the back wall lb of said cabinet. Each of these brackets is formed having a pair of inverted .I-channel sections 18 and 19, with a center brace 20 maintained intermediate each of these sections. A cross sectional view of an example of the type of channel member that may be used in the construction of the sections 18 and 19 is shown in cross section in FIG. 7. Once the cabinet has been completed, these sections 18 and 19, in addition to their center brace 20, will be mounted to the interior surfaces of their respective front and back walls la and 1b. Also, since this bracket is used in close proximity with foods, it is desirable to form its components of stainless steel.

In the smaller model dipping cabinets wherein there may be only, approximately, eight containers and skirts maintained on a level, the brackets 16 and 17 have been found satisfactory for maintaining the positioning of all of the container and skirts into close contiguity. But, where the cabinet is of the larger size or model, for example, where there may be approximately 16 or more containers maintained on one level, it may be necessary to utilize a central spacer, as at 21, so that lesser groups of these containers and their skirts may be positioned together, and avoid having to position too many of these combinations into the cabinet at one time and keep them all together. This center spacer 21 may comprise an inverted, shallow U-channel, as shown in FIG. 6, with a slot 22 provided at either end to accommodate therethrough a bolt 23 to which a nut 24 may attach to secure said spacer in place. Hence, through this arrangement, the larger model cabinet need only at one time arrange approximately eight of the containers and their mounted skirts together.

Obviously, the brackets and spacer disclosed and described in FIG. 5 provide just one form of a positioning means that may be utilized to hold a series of containers and skirts closely together, and any variety of braces or other forms of positioning means could be comprehended by one skilled in the art to acheive this desired result. Furthermore, other numerous variations in the construction of this cabinet, and the container skirt of this invention, within the scope of the appended claims, will occur to those skilled in the art in light of the foregoing disclosure. The described constructions are of the preferred embodiment, but they are merely illustrative.

Having described the invention what is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In a container means for holding bulk frozen food product as ice cream or the like comprising, a tubular container of sufficient size and depth to support a significant quantity of said bulk product, an elastomeric member disposed for snug seating proximate the upward marginal edge of said container, and a skirt member mounting upon said container and firmly held thereto by means of the compressive adherence of said elastomeric member intermediate said container and the interior of said skirt, said skirt member having an opening formed into a lip that approximates the opening of the container and useful for embracing and overlying its rim around its periphery, thereby accomodating the removal of said frozen food product while preventing its spillage below the container and skirt member.

2. The invention of claim 1 wherein said container is round, and the elastomeric member is of annular des1gn.

3. The invention of claim 1 wherein said container is multi-sided, and said elastomeric member is of an equivalent shape to provide for its snug seating upon said container.

4. The invention of claim 1 wherein said skirt is formed having upward and downward portions, said 6 upward portion shaped into said lip and approximating the design of the container on which it seats, the downward portion of said skirt being of greater size than its upward portion, and a surface formed integrally intermediate said upward and downward portions provide a flattened like area.

5. The invention of claim 1 wherein said container is of cylindrical configuration, said skirt member formed having upward and downward portions, the upward portion of said skirt member being of annular design and of a size to provide for its accommodation in snug seating upon said container through the agency of said elastomeric member, the integral downward portion of said skirt member being of multi-sided configuration, and a surface formed integrally intermediate said annular upward portion of the skirt member and its multisided downward portion.

6. In a plurality of said container means as defined in claim 5, the multi-sided downward portion of one skirt member capable of being disposed contiguously with the adjacent downward portion of another skirt member to thereby preclude access therebelow intermediate said contiguous portions.

7. In the invention of claim 1 wherein said elastomeric member includes a first portion designed to embrace the outer upward marginal edge of the container, a second portion integrally formed at an angle inwardly from the upper edge of said first portion and designed to seat on the top edge of the container, and a third portion integrally formed projecting outwardly from said first portion and designed to compress against the interior of said skirt to firmly hold it upon said Qua n 8. In a container device of the type designed to accommodate frozen food material such as ice cream or the like comprising, a tubular container having a width and depth to support va quantity of said material therein, said container having an opening provided through its top, a skirt member mounted upon said container and having an equivalent central opening therein to allow access into the container, an elastomeric member being of a size to provide for its snug attachment proximate the top of said container and tightly fitted within said skirt member to firmly adhere it to the con-' tainer, the upper edge of said skirt member being formed into a lip to snugly embrace the elastomeric member around the periphery of the container top.

9. A skirt for use upon a container of cylindrical shape, said skirt having an opening provided centrally therethrough to provide for access into a container, said skirt formed having upward and downward parts, the upward part of said skirt being of cylindrical shape to provide for its embracement around the top of the container, said upward part of the skirt having an intumed edge to provide for its seating upon said container, the downward part of the skirt being of rectilinear shape to allow for contiguity in its positioning with respect to other like container skirts brought into contact therewith, and a series of approximately horizontal surfaces formed integrally intermediate said upward and downward parts of the skirt to prevent access therebelow.

10. The invention of claim 9 and including a retaining member designed for tight application to the upper edge of a cylindrical container, said retaining member adapted for frictionally engaging the interior of said gral projection outwardly therefrom and designed to compressingly engage the interior of the skirt and hold it firmly to a container.

12. The invention of claim 8 wherein the mounting of said skirt to the top of the container eliminates any openings between these parts at this location. 

1. In a container means for holding bulk frozen food product as ice cream or the like comprising, a tubular container of sufficient size and depth to support a significant quantity of said bulk product, an elastomeric member disposed for snug seating proximate the upward marginal edge of said container, and a skirt member mounting upon said container and firmly held thereto by means of the compressive adherence of said elastomeric member intermediate said container and the interior of said skirt, said skirt member having an opening formed into a lip that approximates the opening of the container and useful for embracing and overlying its rim around its periphery, thereby accomodating the removal of said frozen food product while preventing its spillage below the container and skirt member.
 2. The invention of claim 1 wherein said container is round, and the elastomeric member is of annular design.
 3. The invention of claim 1 wherein said container is multi-sided, and said elastomeric member is of an equivalent shape to provide for its snug seating upon said container.
 4. The invention of claim 1 wherein said skirt is formed having upward and downward portions, said upward portion shaped into said lip and approximating the design of the container on which it seats, the downward portion of said skirt being of greater size than its upward portion, and a surface formed integrally intermediate said upward and downward portions provide a flattened like area.
 5. The invention of claim 1 wherein said container is of cylindrical configuration, said skirt member formed having upward and downward portions, the upward portion of said skirt member being of annular design and of a size to provide for its accommodation in snug seating upon said container through the agency of said elastomeric member, the integral downward portion of said skirt member being of multi-sided configuration, and a surface formed integrally intermediate said annular upward portion of the skirt member and its multi-sided downward portion.
 6. In a plurality of said container means as defined in claim 5, the multi-sided downward portion of one skirt member capable of being disposed contiguously with the adjacent downward portion of another skirt member to thereby preclude access therebelow intermediate said contiguous portions.
 7. In the invention of claim 1 wherein said elastomeric member includes a fiRst portion designed to embrace the outer upward marginal edge of the container, a second portion integrally formed at an angle inwardly from the upper edge of said first portion and designed to seat on the top edge of the container, and a third portion integrally formed projecting outwardly from said first portion and designed to compress against the interior of said skirt to firmly hold it upon said c9ntainer.
 8. In a container device of the type designed to accommodate frozen food material such as ice cream or the like comprising, a tubular container having a width and depth to support a quantity of said material therein, said container having an opening provided through its top, a skirt member mounted upon said container and having an equivalent central opening therein to allow access into the container, an elastomeric member being of a size to provide for its snug attachment proximate the top of said container and tightly fitted within said skirt member to firmly adhere it to the container, the upper edge of said skirt member being formed into a lip to snugly embrace the elastomeric member around the periphery of the container top.
 9. A skirt for use upon a container of cylindrical shape, said skirt having an opening provided centrally therethrough to provide for access into a container, said skirt formed having upward and downward parts, the upward part of said skirt being of cylindrical shape to provide for its embracement around the top of the container, said upward part of the skirt having an inturned edge to provide for its seating upon said container, the downward part of the skirt being of rectilinear shape to allow for contiguity in its positioning with respect to other like container skirts brought into contact therewith, and a series of approximately horizontal surfaces formed integrally intermediate said upward and downward parts of the skirt to prevent access therebelow.
 10. The invention of claim 9 and including a retaining member designed for tight application to the upper edge of a cylindrical container, said retaining member adapted for frictionally engaging the interior of said can skirt to hold it firmly to the container upon which it may mount.
 11. The invention of claim 10 wherein said retaining member is formed of elastomeric material and includes an annular like portion for seating around the upper edge of a cylindrical container, said portion having a thickened upward edge designed for abutting against the top of a container, and said portion having an integral projection outwardly therefrom and designed to compressingly engage the interior of the skirt and hold it firmly to a container.
 12. The invention of claim 8 wherein the mounting of said skirt to the top of the container eliminates any openings between these parts at this location. 